Ghosts and the Gate to Hell

If any of you weren’t already convinced I’m crazy… besides the MANY cats in the house, there are also ghosts/spirits/whatever you want to call them.

I bought my house in 2004. It’s an old house, best guess built in 1898. When the flooring was torn up, we found newspapers dated in 1917. The first odd thing I noticed was what my friends deemed the “Gate to Hell”. A mysterious medicine cabinet in a wall in the basement for apparently no reason. The wall suddenly juts inward at that point, and the basement suddenly narrows. No idea what was behind those walls. You can see pipes, etc. disappearing behind the walls. My friends were convinced opening the medicine cabinet would result in bees flying out, just like in the movie Candyman. We wondered what could be behind the walls (besides bees) – dead bodies? bags of money? (I hoped for bags of money.)

From the time I moved in, there were odd occurrences. Nothing horrific. No unexplained blood dripping from walls, no green ooze… just odd little things. Items would be moved. For example, a card I had placed on the counter would be upside down.

I’m not the only person who’s seen or heard things. Once, a woman was here when my battery-operated Kung Fu hamster suddenly came to life and started singing. She looked at me, hoping for an explanation – but I had none. Another time, a friend was over when my alarm system suddenly said “System hello”. Again, she waited for an explanation – and I had none. The alarm had never done that before. It said “System hello” one more time, then “System goodbye”. It’s never done it since.

I’ve heard and seen other things. My cats have sat staring at closet doors and growling – but when I open the door, there’s nothing there. I’ve seen one of the cats playing, as though with an invisible toy. As I watched, I distinctly heard a little girl’s voice say “Hello?” I’ve felt a man’s presence and heard his low voice.

The ghosts also get upset sometimes when I oversleep. I’ve had alarms go off in other rooms, rooms I never use from alarm clocks I never set. Once I was in bed when I saw the sliding closet doors move back and forth. I figured one of the cats had gotten shut inside (again), so I got up to let them out. When I opened the closet door, nothing was inside. I went back to bed and an alarm clock in a spare room went off.

I’ve gotten used to the ghosts. They don’t bother me. Unfortunately, I’ve gotten SO used to them, I’m prone to say things to coworkers like: “Oh, the ghosts got me up early today”.